Joy got up and walked into to the village to sign some papers regarding getting her camera back, and to give the chief a 500 Naira ($5) reward. The lodge keeper told us that the mother had been hurt (we don't know how badly). Packed up left the VSO girls to find their way back to Calabar and hit the road. The road quickly degenerated to some of the worst I've ever seen. Tons of checkpoints (customs, immigration, National Drug Agency, Army, and the Health department) including a thorough searching, but still didn't pay any bribes. Some sketchy bridges (a decaying wood one, and one that wad fallen down but was still usable as a ramp).
At the border we had to go fill out forms for immigration, again for visa control, then go talk with customs. Customs made a big deal about not having the receipts for the owari boards we bought in Côte d'Ivoire but as usual with a little patience they moved on. Next they checked that we had no Naira remaining (it's illegal to export), and then demanded 400 N for vehicle exportation. We just waited claimed we didn't have any Naira and eventually he let us through. The vehicle log book showed one car across the border on the twenty second, and another on the fifteenth - and this is supposed to be the major border crossing!
On the Cameroon side things were a little more organized, everything went smoothly except the man with the key to the box with the stamp we needed for the car's carnet wasn't to be found. We waited about an hour and a half before giving up with the assurance that we could get it stamped in Douala. No one asked for bribes which was very refreshing. The road got even worse (!?!) they would have been completely un-passable with even a little rain. Some pot holes were large enough (and nearly deep enough) to completely hide the car in. Just after sunset the inevitable happened and we got bogged. Tried pushing, the winch, and even the sand ladders, but we were stuck. Got bit and scratched up, and very muddy but with no results. After an hour of frustration we heard an approaching car - and ominously - gun shots. As the car got closer I could even see the muzzle flash. I was pretty resigned to being robbed at this point - but several large men got out and towed us out of the mud before heading on their way. The rest of the drive to Mamfé was rough but relatively uneventful - thank God.
In Mamfé we found a nice hotel with A/C and running water! More importantly they said they'd take payment in French Francs - since we have no Central African CFA.
